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INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, March 19. THE NCAA Division III Championships kicked off this morning at the IU Natatorium at IUPUI as expected with the Denison and Kenyon men and women in the thick of the team title races along with Emory getting involved on the women’s side.

The Denison men has a strong morning, particularly in the 200 IM with four up and should gain a big bump from diving later today, while Kenyon’s men had three up in the men’s 500-yard free to help balance the blow.

As far as the women go, Emory, Kenyon and Denison look to be in a three-way dance after day one prelims with no diving to enter the equation until tomorrow’s one-meter event.

Men’s 500 free
Reigning NCAA record-holder Allen Weik of Denison cruised to the top seed of the middle distance event with a 4:26.73. He should have the inside track on capturing the title this evening, and potential could rival his NCAA D3 record of 4:21.79 set two years ago.

Kenyon, however, will jump out to a big lead after the first event with three swimmers making the championship finale. Andrew Chevalier (4:28.15), Arthur Conover (3:28.27) and Jose Guilfoyle (4:28.69) finished second, third and sixth to lock down some serious points for their squad.

Keene State had a strong morning as well with Drew Ledwith (4:28.59) and Shahar Resman (4:29.02) also making the finale with fourth and eighth-place seeds. TCNJ’s Stephen Tarnowski (4:28.63) and Johns Hopkins’ Andy Greenhalgh (4:28.87) finished fifth and seventh to close out the A final qualifying.

Mariah Williamson (4:52.25) and Sydney Lindblom (4:53.70) qualified second and fifth for Kenyon, while Denison’s Campbell Costley (4:52.69) and Taylor Johns (4:53.88) took third and sixth for their squad. Emory’s McKenna Newsum-Schoenberg (4:53.36) and Courtney McDermott (4:54.19) also made the final with fourth and seventh-place seeds.

Emory, however, will get some nickel-and-dime points with two more making the consolation heat as Megan Beach (4:54.35) and Carol Bonfield (4:55.26) took ninth and 10th overall this morning.

Meanwhile, individually, Williams’ Sarah Thompson lead all qualifiers this morning with a 4:51.32, while Washington U’s Sara Taege also made the finale with the final transfer spot after posting a 4:54.32.

Men’s 200 IM
Denison dropped a hammer in the men’s 200-yard IM in terms of the team title chase, taking half of the championship finale lanes as well as another lane in the consolation heat.

Spencer Fronk (1:49.31), Carlos Maciel (1:49.61), Jackson Humphrey (1:49.86) and Bart Brunk (1:50.13) qualified second, third, fifth and eighth for Denison in the A final, securing a boatload of points for their squad. Meanwhile, Jackson Lindell also qualified 12th with a 1:50.47 to pick up B final points.

Redlands’ Jeffrey DePew, meanwhile, snagged the top seed in prelims with a 1:49.03, but might have a hard time catching one of the longest-standing records in the books. CMS’ Gary Simon clocked a 1:46.97 for the D3 record back in 1998 before the turn of the century.

USMMA’s Kevin Lindgren (1:49.67), Emory’s Andrew Wilson (1:49.87) and Mary Washington’s Hugh Anderson (1:49.92) also made their way into the championship finale this evening.

Women’s 200 IM
Emory had a strong outing in the women’s 200-yard IM qualifying heats, grabbing two A final and two B final spots. Sadie Nennig (2:02.40) and Anne Kowalsky (2:03.48) qualified second and third, while Nina Zook (2:05.20) and Kylie McKenzie (2:06.34) picked up ninth and 14th overall to secure some valuable team points.

Amherst’s Emily Hyde led the way for all qualifiers with a 2:02.12, while Denison’s Michelle Howell took fourth in 2:03.59.

Women’s 50 free
Johns Hopkins showed signs of a sizzling 200-yard free relay later to come with three swimmers making the finale. Ann Bogdanovski led the way with a 23.17, while teammates Kylie Ternes and Sarah Rinsma tied for sixth overall with 23.47s.

Springfield’s Kelli Pennington grabbed the top seed with a 23.05, and could take a run at the meet record of 22.71 set by Kenyon’s Elizabeth Carlton back in 2009. Denison’s Carolyn Kane (23.28) and Redlands’ Chandra Lukes (23.41) finished third and fourth.

IWU’s Kirsten Slaughter (23.2) and Kenyon’s Jourdan Cline (23.51) also made their way into what promises to be a swift championship heat.

Men’s 200-yard medley relay
Emory’s Ross Spock (22.39), Andrew Wilson (24.97), Hayden Baker (21.81) and Ryan Bass (20.23) picked up the top seed in the relay preliminary heats with a 1:29.40 with two other teams also clearing 1:30 to set up a potential barnburner this evening.

CMS (1:30.69), St. Olaf (1:30.75), Williams (1:30.81) and TCNJ (1:31.17) also made the finale, while Denison potentially lost some of the huge gain it secured from a monster 200 IM by qualifying 11th in 1:31.49.

Women’s 200-yard medley relay
Johns Hopkins’ Taylor Kitayama (25.09), Pilar Shimizu (29.12), Kylie Holden (25.35) and Kylie Ternes (22.79) raced their way to the top seed in the final relay of the morning with a 1:42.35. Kenyon and Emory joined them in the 1:42.

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Author: Jason Marsteller

Jason Marsteller is the general manager of digital properties at Swimming World. He joined Swimming World in June 2006 as the managing editor after previous stints as a media relations professional at Indiana University, the University of Tennessee, Southern Utah University and the Utah Summer Games.